Stock-car



(No Model.)

M. D. MOORE STOCK GAR.

No. 415,878. Patented Nov. 26, 1889.

' N. PETERS. Phnln-Lithugmphnr. Winhingiofl. u. c,

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN D. MOORE, OF \VAKONDA, (DAKOTA TERRITORY) SOUTH DAKOTA.

STOCK-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,878, dated November 26, 1889.

Application filed January 26, 1889. Serial No, 297,696. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN D. MOORE, a citizen. of the United States, residing at Wakonda, in the county of Clay and Territory of Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stock-Cars; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of cars known as stock-cars, which are especially adapted for the conveyance of live stock.

The object of the present invention is to adapt the car for the conveyance of sheep or hogs by the insertion of a removable deck placed midway between the top and bottom, thus allowing the stock to be carried on two decks instead of oneand doubling the capacity of the car.

In carrying out this object I take an ordinary stock-car and place a series of vertical bars on each side of the same, reaching from the floor to the roof, their lower ends resting in sockets 011 the floor and their upper ends passing through holes in the roof, so that they may be readily removed or replaced. Upon these bars slide hinged straps, which straps carry the several sections of a deck that when in place midway between the floor and roof forms a second deck that may be used for the transportation of small stock in the same manner as the lower one or floor of the car. The several sections of this remov able deck when not in use may be allowed to fall down against the sides of the car, then slid up to the roof, so as to be out of the way, or the whole,'including the bars, may be removed and placed on top of the car, where it can be secured entirely out of the way, and leaving the interior of the car wholly unobstructed.

IVater and food may be supplied to the stock in transit by means of suitable troughs and devices for holding hay, if desired.

The doors of a car intended for use as a double-decker may be of the. ordinary form;

but a supplementary door is used to prevent the escape of stock from one compartment until the others are filled.

To give a full understanding of the invention it will be further described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is alongitudigal section of the car with a portion of the supplementary deck in place and the remainder folded against the sides of the car. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through the carnear one end, onehalf the supplementary deck being turned down against the side of the car, the other half supported by rods from the roof. Fig. is also a transverse vertical section through the middle of the car, showing the deck in place and supported by the gates used to divide the car into separate compartments. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the deck, showing the hinged flap used to cover the space between the sections of the deck.

In these several figures, A represents the floor of the stock-car, B the sides, and O the roof. In the floor is formed a series of sockets a a, and directly over these sockets, through the roof, are the holes a. Vith their lower ends resting in the sockets and their upper ends passing through the holes in the roof are the bars I) I). It will be observed that these bars may be readily removed by raising their lower ends out of the socket, inclining the bar, and drawing it out of the hole in the roof; or it may be taken up onto the roof of the car through said hole when it is desired to remove all impediments from the interior of the car. Upon these bars I) b are placed the sliding collars c, and connected to these by a hinge-joint the plates 0', which plates are secured to the under side of the re movable deck-sections D. It will be seen that the collars 0, together with the decksection, may be moved up and down on the bars I), so as to lie upon the floor of the car,

raised to the roof, or held at any desired point in place by sliding bolts to the opposite side, so as to divide the car into compartments. They also serve as supports for the central supplementary section and carry the troughs F, which are pivoted therein, and may serve as either feed or water troughs, water being supplied through the hose 0" from the tank G on top of the car.

In order to support the several sections of the deck while loading and when the gates E are opened or at the sides of the car, (thus leaving the several compartments open for the entrance of the stock) the rods (Z (Z, attached at one end to the roof and provided at the other with hooks which enter staples in the deck, may be used; or, instead of these, posts, as cl, their lower ends resting in sockets in the floor and their upper ends coming beneath the junction of the sections, may be used.

In order to cover the joint between the several sections and the deck, thus preventing small animals from getting their feet through the cracks which may be between them, the flaps D are hinged to half the deck-sections, so that they may be turned down over said joints, thus making the deck practically continuous.

I prefer to make the supplemental deck in six sections, four of them occupying the opposite ends of the car and the other two much shorter than the end sections, filling the space opposite the car-doors; but the number of sections may be changed to suit the car or convenience of handling when it is desired to remove them from the interior of the car or replace them therein. The doors H may be of the ordinary sliding variety, but a supplemental door H is provided. This door is secured in place by hooks or bolts, and is used to retain the stock in either the upper or lower compartment of the car while the other compartment is being filled, and maybe used on either side of the car or at either the top or bottom compartment.

As it is frequently desired to load a car with return freight after stock has been un loaded, the interior fittings may be arranged against the sides or root of the car out of the way, or, if desired, may be entirely removed and placed upon top of the car, where proper devices are provided for securing them, thus leaving the interior of the car wholly free from incu mbrances for the reception of freight, the supplemental deck and other appliances being replaced within the car when it is desired to load it with stock. It will be seen that by the use of these improvements the whole of the car may be used for small st0ck such as sheep or hogsor one end of it may be so used and the remainder filled with cattle in the ordinary manner, thus affording facilities for small shippers to load a car with several kinds of stock.

Having thus described my invention, I claim. as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the following:

In a stock-car, the combination of the vertical removable bars seated at their lower ends in sockets in the floor of the car and having their upper ends passing through the roof, the collars c, sliding on said bars, the plates 0', hinged to said collar, the sectional supplemental deck attached to said plates, and hinged flap covering the joints between said section, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN D. MOORE.

Witnesses:

A. B. HURD, N. R. GILCHRIST. 

